Ikea launches first Christmas ad with ‘irreverent’ take on festive hosting

Ikea is launching its first Christmas ad, encouraging Britons to defy ‘home shame’ and open up their homes to guests over the festive seasons.

The ‘Silence the Critics’ campaign, created by Mother, kicks off with a TV ad featuring a couple who become racked with home shame when they’re faced with the prospect of having guests round. This isn’t helped when ornaments and objects from around the home come to life to taunt them about the state of their house.

The couple are left with no choice but to take action and spruce up their home, of course using ideas from Ikea.

The retailer hopes the advert will go against brands’ usual Christmas strategy of releasing sentimental Christmas ad with a “humorous and irreverent” take on festive hosting.

Ikea UK and Ireland county marketing manager, Sarah Green, says: “Our first Ikea Christmas advert was born from the common feeling, that along with the seasonal joys, a lot of us feel a looming sense of dread when it comes to hosting others, with many of us feeling ashamed of our homes over the Christmas period.”

The campaign film will first air tonight (8 November) during Gogglebox on Channel 4 and will then run across broadcast, video-on-demand, cinema and digital media. It will be supported by outdoor, press, CRM and PR activity.

There will also be bespoke social content, with three films showing people how to tackle home shame with simple changes and tips. Ikea is also bringing the campaign to its stores with a series of events showing customers how to get their homes ready for hosting.

“We believe that every home can and should be worthy of a get-together and that with a little imagination, some clever products and ideas, there’s no reason not to be proud to invite your nearest and dearest over. This campaign aims to inspire us all to get our homes party-ready and ‘Silence the Critics’, once and for all,” adds Green.